Chapter 654 - Chapter 654: An Xiu’er Is Crazy (2)

Chapter 654: An Xiu’er Is Crazy (2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The emperor was stunned and scolded, “I know that you haven’t been on duty these past few days.”

Shangguan Heng continued to cry.

The emperor was impatient from his crying and waved his hand. “Forget it, forget it. Just don’t ask your mother to cry in front of me when the time comes.”

Shangguan Heng’s eyes lit up. “Thank you, Father.”

The emperor looked at him for a long time. If any of his sons were too promising, he was worried that there would be a second Shangguan Pu. On the other hand, he felt troubled by Shangguan Heng•s lack of motivation.

Noticing Shangguan Yu, the emperor finally felt a little comforted. He thought for a moment and instructed, “Second Prince, you came at the right time. You must have heard about Earl Zhongyi encountering an a.s.sa.s.sin yesterday. I suspect that it’s the same group of people who barged into Rui Manor today. Work with Qian Meng to investigate this case. You must find the a.s.sa.s.sin.” Shangguan Yu glanced at Song Jingchen and cupped his hands. “Yes.”

“Alright, all of you can leave. Earl Zhongyi, stay behind.” The emperor waved his hand.

After leaving the imperial study, Shangguan Heng finally stopped howling and began to criticize the eunuch carrying the stretcher. “Walk slower. Do you want to jolt me to death?”

Shangguan Yu sighed. “I asked you to bandage your wounds in the residence, but you refused. Aren’t you the one in pain in the end?”

“That won’t do. If I bandage it, how can Father see my injuries? Oh my b.u.t.t…”

Shangguan Yu said, “Alright, I’ll accompany you to see the Imperial Physician to bandage your wounds before sending you back.”

“Second Brother treats me the best. Let’s go, let’s go. When my mother receives the news and rushes over, I won’t be able to leave.”

Shangguan Yu was helpless. He thought of something and took out a golden bead from his sleeve. He rubbed it in his hand and smiled.

In the imperial study, the emperor looked at the token presented to him and asked in confusion, “What does this mean?”

Song Jingchen said, “I found this token from the apothecary’s residence provided by Lord Jing. It should be something from the palace.”

The emperor frowned and waved at Qi Shou. “Come and see if you recognize this.”

Qi Shou recognized it at a glance. He boldly reached out and took it. “Your Majesty, this is the ident.i.ty token of a palace maid. Everyone has it. Look, there’s a name engraved on the back.”

He turned the token over. As expected, there was a name engraved on it.

“Yuzhu”.

The ident.i.ty token had always been a palace maid’s personal item. If she hadn’t been to the so-called Apothecary’s residence, how could she have left it there?

Could it be that someone in the palace had also contacted the remnants of the previous dynasty? Thinking of this possibility, the emperor felt terrible. He instructed in a low voice, “Go and investigate which palace this palace maid called Yuzhu works in. Bring her over immediately.”

“Yes.”

All the palace maids who entered the palace had special records, so it was easy to investigate. In just 15 minutes, Qi Shou returned, but no one followed him.

The emperor asked suspiciously, “You didn’t find anyone?”

A troubled expression flashed across Qi Shou’s face. He stammered for a while before saying, “There’s indeed such a palace maid in the palace, but…”

“But what?” The emperor frowned. He had an inexplicable bad feeling.

Qi Shou glanced at Song Jingchen carefully and whispered, “This palace maid used to work in the Eastern Palace, but she lost her footing and fell into the water and drowned two years ago.”

The Eastern Palace. Two years ago, no matter which word it was, it was a little subtle, let alone connected.

The emperor paused and looked at Song Jingchen suspiciously. If possible, he naturally hoped that no one would ever remember what happened back then. However, since this concerned the remnants of the previous dynasty, he had to be careful.

After a long time, the emperor said, “Qi Shou, accompany Earl Zhongyi.”

“Yes.”

If they wanted to investigate a palace maid, they had to start from the people she worked with.

Not long after, the palace maids and eunuchs who had served in the Eastern Palace back then were gathered.

Due to the crown prince’s rebellion, these people were labeled as sinful slaves.

Even if they were rea.s.signed, they could only go to the inferior-cla.s.s places. After two years, there were very few people still alive.

The few palace maids Song Jingchen had found who were on good terms with

Yuzhu were not present.

As for those who weren’t here, it was obvious that they were gone.

When asked about Yuzhu, most people only remembered that she had drowned. They knew nothing else.

Even those who had an impression of her only said that she was the most honest. She did not even know how to curry favor with her master.

“I remember that once, Lord An Le was playing a pitch-pot game with His Highness Lord Xian in the Eastern Palace. His Highness felt that it wasn’t fun with too few people, so he personally took out his wallet as a betting chip and let the people from the Eastern Palace play together. Everyone went except for

Yuzhu..”